"We had a lot of people swim some of their times; a lot of people stepped out of their comfort zone to swim events they had never swam before," Sansing said. "And then, of course, our top swimmers stepped up and swam some of their good times.

"It's just a combination of several things, such as working on trying to find ways to have effective practices given our limited space," Sansing said. "So, as we've gotten better it's led us to be a little bit more effective in the pool, but I still think we can definitely even get better."

For the boys, Salem finished first in the 200-yard medley relay (1 minute, 48.56 seconds) to qualify for state.

However, Ellwanger individually qualified for state in the 500 freestyle (5:19.51) and the 100 breaststroke (1:02.39). Both scores were highs on the day in boys competition.

"We still gotta do it at the end of the season and not just now," Sansing said. "But it's definitely showing us that we've got the capabilities and the potential to (win). But it's also going to make Heritage and Salem try just as hard that much more to knock us off."